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Inside Spencer: The KSRL Blog

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Welcome to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library blog! As the special collections and archives library at the University of Kansas, Spencer is home to remarkable and diverse collections of rare and unique items. Explore the blog to learn about the work we do and the materials we collect.

That’s Distinctive!: KU Campus Tour, Then and Now

December 8th, 2023

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

This week on That’s Distinctive! I am taking you on a little tour of KU’s campus via the C. J. Moore collection. Dating from 1893 to 1946, the collection of prints and glass plate negatives follow Moore’s photography through many places in Kansas. This week I am sharing scans of Moore’s glass plate negatives of campus buildings from 1894. Since many buildings on campus have been rebuilt, I thought it might be fun to show the buildings as they stand today as well.

First up, Old Fraser Hall. Built in 1872, the first Fraser Hall (originally named the New Building and later University Building) was built of limestone with signature towers and a red roof. According to KU’s online place directory, the first Fraser was “designed by John G. Haskell and housed virtually all university departments, administrative offices, a chapel/theater, lecture halls, classrooms and, at various times in its basement and attic, gymnasiums.” By the early 1960s the stability of the building was greatly concerning, and authorization of the building’s replacement was granted in 1962. Construction of the new Fraser Hall began in 1965 and in 1967 the building (which was more the twice the size of Old Fraser Hall) opened about 50 feet west and just north of the original building.

Next up, Old Blake Hall. Named after physics professor Lucien I. Blake, it opened just south of Fraser Hall on the hill in 1895. KU’s place directory notes that, “with its steep roofs, turreted façade and giant tower clock peering across campus like an all-seeing cyclops, the original Blake had the distinction of being one of the most unique buildings on Mount Oread.” By 1963, the building had been empty for several years and could not be renovated; it was also torn down. Present-day Blake Hall opened in 1964 and was also double the size of the original building.

Next on the tour is Spooner Hall. Opened in 1894, Spooner is the only building highlighted today that has not been demolished and rebuilt. Originally opened as a library, Spooner has housed many campus departments and facilities. In 2010, renovations were done on the exterior of the building to clean, waterproof, and repair any damage. Spooner Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

And the final stop on this brief tour of campus buildings is Old Snow Hall. It opened in 1886 and resided in the northwest corner of the Watson Library lawn. Snow Hall had seriously deteriorated by the mid 1920s, and it was eventually demolished in 1934. New Snow Hall opened in 1930 further west on Jayhawk Boulevard. In the 1950s the building was renovated to add additional wings with a major renovation in 1989 to add more classrooms and offices.  

Colorful map of the KU Campus showing buildings and other landmarks accompanied by captions.
“A Plan of the Campus of the University of Kansas” by Marjorie Whitney, a KU student in the Department of Design, 1926. University Archives. Call Number: RG 0/24. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services

Spencer’s November-December Exhibit: “Creating Over a Century of Symphonies: The Reuter Organ Company”

November 14th, 2023

While each year we at Spencer process many new collections, we are also adding to preexisting collections through the continued generosity of our donors. From Pulitzer Prize-winning authors to LGBTQIA2S+ activists, an individual’s history doesn’t end when their collection comes through our doors. Individual and organizational histories continue to evolve past the snapshots their historical records provide, and we at Spencer aim to provide as complete a picture as we can! One collection we’d like to draw particular attention to is an addition to the Reuter Organ Company photograph collection (Call Number: RH PH 68). Through this collection, patrons can follow the construction of uniquely hand-crafted pipe organs before they were built into their new homes in institutions all over the world. And now, with a 2023 addition, patrons can see even more of the grandeur of these massive instruments as well as the incredible skill and historical craftsmanship of this Lawrence-based company!

Black-and-white overhead photograph of a large pipe organ.
Reuter Organ Company’s Opus 2179 at the Elm Park Methodist Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1995. Photo credit: Max Mayse. Reuter Organ Company Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH 68. Click image to enlarge.

The history of the Reuter Organ Company starts in 1917 when Adolph Reuter established the Reuter-Schwarz Organ Company with his business partner Earl Schwarz. After a disastrous tornado blew through the company factory, the company relocated to the Wilder Brothers Shirt Factory on New Hampshire Street in Lawrence, Kansas, after fulfilling a commission for the city’s Masonic Temple in 1919. Schwarz departed from the company shortly afterwards, and the company was renamed the Reuter Organ Company. In less than ten years, the company grew from a six-employee operation to over 50 full-time employees with over 50 commissions a year. However, after lean years during the Great Depression, the Reuter Organ Company faced a manufacturing ban on musical instruments during World War II and stayed afloat by producing government-sanctioned boxes for munitions materials with a skeletal crew. After the war, the company began to flourish again, and Reuter began hiring skilled staff with formal music education and expertise in organ construction. Through the knowledge base of its staff, the company began to experiment and further develop traditional construction techniques with new pipe organ technology to develop a signature “Reuter sound.”

Black-and-white photograph of a pipe organ in the corner of a balcony in an auditorium.
Reuter Organ Company’s Opus 1741 at the Shryock Auditorium at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, 1970. Photo credit: Max Mayse. Reuter Organ Company Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH 68. Click image to enlarge.

After Adolph Reuter’s retirement in 1961, the company continued to evolve under the direction of longtime employee Franklin Mitchell. Mitchell, with then newly appointed production manager Albert Neutel, purchased the company in the early 1980s. Together, the two continued to refine the Reuter technical craft, particularly with the mechanical aspects of organ construction and the tonal sound of the company’s organs. After Mitchell’s retirement in 1997, Albert Neutel was joined in management by his son, Albert “J.R.” Neutel, a former longtime employee of the company. Under the Neutel family’s direction, the Reuter Organ Company moved operations from New Hampshire Street to a newly constructed and specially designed factory and administrative facility in northwest Lawrence in 2001. Sixteen years later, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary by holding a public open house in their newer facility and inviting old and new customers alike. By this time, the company had constructed over 2,200 pipe organs for public and private institutions around the world. The company had also built a respected name in organ rehabilitation within the pipe organ community. In 2022, amid the retirement of several longtime key staff members, J.R. Neutel, the company’s current president, decided to sell Reuter’s factory and administrative facility. A major selling point of the Reuter Organ Company is the institutional and craft knowledge of its staff. There is a strong tradition of old staff mentoring new staff and passing down historic pipe organ construction techniques. Operating at the same scale without that same level of institutional knowledge was deemed impossible. And in the beginning of 2023, the Reuter Organ Company further scaled back operations to only fulfilling the customary 11-year warranties offered to their past clients with special consideration for smaller projects.

Black-and-white photograph of a pipe organ in a balcony at the back of the church's sanctuary.
Reuter Organ Company’s Opus 2044, 1982 in St. John’s Episcopal Church in Clearwater, Florida, 1982. Photo credit: Max Mayse. Reuter Organ Company Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH 68. Click image to enlarge.

To honor this historic company and to showcase a new addition to the Reuter Organ Company photograph collection, we here at Spencer have created a temporary exhibit to display images of a few of the beautiful pipe organs Reuter’s has constructed over the years and to dip into some pipe organ terminology. Have you ever wondered were the phrase “pulling out all stops” comes from or just how big the biggest musical instrument in the world can get? Come on by to learn more about this incredible company and the incredible instruments it made! The exhibit opened free to the public in Spencer’s North Gallery on November 1st and will continue to be on display until early January 2024. We hope you “stop” by!

Charissa Pincock
Manuscripts Processor

Architecture and the (Digital) Archives

September 25th, 2023

I was first introduced to Kenneth Spencer Research Library through my First-Year Seminar. While I thought it was a cool place, and certainly had a unique variety of materials that could keep me entertained for days, I didn’t think I would ever use it.

I started working at the library a little less than a year later, and I began to see even more of the vast selection of intriguing materials that the library hosts. One day I was working on boxing up some recycling when I came across a little souvenir booklet that had illustrations of various buildings on campus. Since it was in the recycling pile, I was allowed to keep it, and the pictures fascinated me. [Spencer librarians sometimes weed duplicates from the collection. That was the case here; the library’s copy of Miniatures of Lawrence, Kan. can be found in University Archives. The call number is RG 0/24/G 1904 photographs.]

Title and embellishments in gold against a black background.
The front cover of Miniatures of Lawrence, Kan., 1904. Photo by Corrie Bolton. Click image to enlarge.
This image has text. Publication information in gold against a black background.
The back cover of Miniatures of Lawrence, Kan., 1904. Photo by Corrie Bolton. Click image to enlarge.

Fast forward four months when my Theory of Urban Design class assigned a project titled “Now and Then.” As you might expect, the project wanted us to look at how one place had changed over the past 20 years. It was relatively simple; we just had to find an old photograph of a building/urbanized area of Lawrence, recreate it, and write a description of the differences between the photographs.

A few days before this had been assigned, I was walking behind Spooner Hall and found the remains of an old fountain. Thinking it looked cool, I snapped a photo. That fountain got me wondering about the history of the building, and this project gave me the perfect opportunity to explore it.

A fountainhead of an animal on a brick wall covered in ivy.
The fountain behind Weaver Courtyard, on the South side of Spooner Hall. Photo by Corrie Bolton. Click image to enlarge.
Color photograph of Spooner Hall.
Spooner Hall from Jayhawk Boulevard. Photo by Corrie Bolton. Click image to enlarge.

In my little book of miniatures there were two images depicting Spooner Hall.

Black-and-white oval photograph of Spooner Hall.
“Library No. 1” (Spooner Hall) in Miniatures of Lawrence, Kan., 1904. Photo by Corrie Bolton. Click image to enlarge.
Black-and-white oval photograph of Old Blake and Old Fraser halls.
View of the KU campus from the library in Miniatures of Lawrence, Kan., 1904. This photo was taken from Spooner Hall’s front porch, looking slightly to the left. On the right is Old Fraser Hall, which was located where the modern Fraser currently stands. Old Blake Hall is on the left. Photo by Corrie Bolton. Click image to enlarge.

Originally, I was just going to recreate one of those, but just in case I went online to see what other old pictures I could find. One of the first images I came across was from a Spencer blog post that depicted children sledding down the hill behind Spooner. From there I discovered dozens of other images in the University Archives Photographs digital archives that I wanted to incorporate into my project. It quickly turned from a two-page assignment into a ten-page booklet about the history of Spooner Hall.

Black-and-white photograph of children sledding down a tree-lined sidewalk behind two buildings.
A snow scene with Spooner Library, the old chancellor’s residence, and children on a sled, 1900s. University Archives Photos. Call Number: RG 0/24/1 Snow 1900s Prints: Campus: Areas and Objects (Photos). Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Colored sketch of the front of Spooner Hall.
A sketch of Spooner Hall by Corrie Bolton. Click image to enlarge.

This project gave me a unique opportunity to explore campus’s past through what I now consider one of the coolest places on campus. If you ever find yourself feeling stuck on a project, come to the library; there is a lot to explore!

Corrie Bolton
Public Services student assistant

Labor Day 2023: Historic Photographs of People Working, from the Joseph J. Pennell Collection

September 5th, 2023

On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed the bill that designated the first Monday of September as a day to celebrate the workers of America known as Labor Day. Below are photographs selected from the Joseph J. Pennell Collection that feature workers in various occupations.

From the 1890s to the 1920s, Joseph J. Pennell photographed life in Junction City, Kansas, and the nearby Army base, Fort Riley. It is my belief that the strength of the collection is that Pennell wasn’t content to just stay in his studio, taking portrait photography. He went out into the community to photograph its people, businesses, activities, groups, and families. And Pennell was inclusive of community members from diverse groups, revealing a more complete representation of Junction City history. Because of his work, we are provided with a comprehensive view of life in a moderately-sized Midwestern army-post town on the Great Plains at the turn of the century.

Please enjoy this sample from the collection and visit Kenneth Spencer Research Library’s website to see more.

Black-and-white photograph of men and women
A group of people at work in Dixon’s Laundry, 1899. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 468.5, Box 13. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Black-and-white photograph of men standing with large machinery in an open-air underground area lined with bricks.
Workers at a water works site, 1911. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 2339, Box 50. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Black-and-white photograph of a crowded shop. Six boys and young men work on shoes: four stand and two sit on a bench.
Men and boys working in Counts Shoe Shop, 1915. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 2807, Box 60. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Black-and-white photograph of men, horses, and mules standing across a dirt road with trees on the left and fields on the right.
A group of men working on a road with horse and mule teams as part of the Good Roads Movement, circa 1911. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 2464.16, Box 52. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Black-and-white photograph of seven men standing in a row in front of a building. Five are dressed in chef's whites, and three are wearing hats.
Bakers in front of Frey’s Bakery, 1900. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 507, Box 14. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Black-and-white photograph of two young women sitting at a large switchboard.
Miss Crook and Miss Mickey at a telephone switchboard, 1900. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 632, Box 17. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).
Blac-and-white photograph of two African American men in hats, long-sleeve shirts, and overalls. One is standing and one is sitting; they are in a studio in front of a backdrop.
A portrait of Alfred Londin and a friend in work clothes, 1916. Joseph Judd Pennell Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH Pennell, Print 2867, Box 62. Click image to enlarge (redirect to Spencer’s digital collections).

Kathy Lafferty
Public Services

That’s Distinctive!: New School Year

August 18th, 2023

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

“First day of school! First day of school!” Nemo says excitedly in the beginning of Finding Nemo. The return to school is often an exciting time for students around the country. After a lengthy summer break, students are ready to return to the classroom with their new clothes, classroom supplies, and fancy lunch boxes. The night before, old routines are picked back up and much thought is put into the perfect first day outfit. Teachers have spent weeks preparing for the return of students, prepping to provide a safe and welcoming space for all identities.

Color image of Nemo with the phrase "first day of school."

As it is once again time for students of all ages to head back to school, I thought it would be fun to share some Lawrence Journal-World photos from 1954 and 1955. The folders containing the photos are labeled “Back to School Edition.” The Journal-World Photograph Collection consists of approximately 660 boxes that house photos ranging from the 1950s through 2001. There are about 545 boxes of negatives, and an additional 113 boxes hold physical prints. Many of the photos involving KU have been removed from the collection and re-housed within University Archives.

Black-and-white photograph of a young boy in long pants and a plaid short-sleeve shirt, standing at home and holding a couple of books at his hip.
A boy with his schoolbooks, 1954. Lawrence Journal-World Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH LJW. Click image to enlarge.
Black-and-white photograph of a young girl in a dress walking down the steps in front of a house.
A girl on the front steps, 1954. Lawrence Journal-World Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH LJW. Click image to enlarge.
Black-and-white photograph of an older woman sitting at a table with an open book.
A woman, possibly a teacher, with a book, 1955. Lawrence Journal-World Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH LJW. Click image to enlarge.
Black-and-white photograph of a woman sitting at a typewriter with a piece of paper in her hand.
A woman, possibly a Lawrence School District employee, typing a budget ledger on a typewriter, 1955. Lawrence Journal-World Photograph Collection. Call Number: RH PH LJW. Click image to enlarge.

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services